Help is on the way -- eventually

Even for the government, this has to set some kind of record.

$85 million in supplies intended for victims of hurricanes Rita and Katrina are finally being distributed in Louisiana — 2½ years after the storms.

Why the delay? Simple; the feds lost them.

That’s right, taxpayers. The linens, pots, pans and other items got stuck in a Fort Worth warehouse, where they were forgotten for two years. They’d probably still be there, but the building’s owner wanted to demolish it.

He asked the feds to take back their stuff, but in March FEMA decided the goods were surplus. FEMA then tried to give them to the Louisiana Recovery Authority, which is probably where they should have gone in the first place.

And just to show that state government can be just as incompetent as the federal government, the Louisiana Recovery Authority initially said thanks, but no thanks.

“We were not notified that these were Katrina-Rita supplies,” said Paul Rainwater, head of the LRA.

To make a long story short, the stuff is finally being distributed to a New Orleans nonprofit agency, which will give it to people made homeless by Katrina.

… Something to think about the next time someone clamors for the government to take over new responsibilities like health care.